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Beach Babe

A couple of months ago, I got some old photos from my mom. It was fun to look back in time and see all the moments that were captures. Each photo brought back a unique emotion when I thought back to what was going on in my life. And there was one, most important, characteristic of these photos that did not go by me. At all.

I. Was. Freaking. Adorbs.

What happened?

But seriously, my toddler years (and even into my preschool years), I was the cutest of the cutest! Naturally, I want to scrap them! The only bummer, from back in those days, is we didn't have all the nifty photo-editing software we do now. Most families took photos on a cheapy camera. So, most of my photos, from those days, are not the crispest and clearest that photos get. Sure, I could scan them and tweak them but, I don't wanna.

Instead, I want to show you how, you too, can still use those old photos. Who freaking cares about the perfect photography? I mean, who is that for anyway? Most of us scrappers are not professional photographers and simply want to record a special memory.

So there.

I found a photo of myself, at the beach, that I adore! I have fond memories of the beach. The photo, itself, is kind of blurry and the colors are so "early 80's photo quality" and so, I knew whatever papers I found, would have to help frame the photo. It's easy for them to get lost.

Enter the Summer Vibes collection by Simple Stories. And here is my page:

I was mostly drawn to this collection, not only for the colors but, also for the icons. That VW bus and several other items were so reminiscent of my childhood. I was born in the late '70s; raised in the '80s and a lot of those things were still prominent. I remember riding in one of those buses, as a child, and thinking how cool they were!

Now, let's talk a bit more about the design of this page. Color was my friend here. The photo is pretty monochromatic when it comes to color. The water takes up most of the space and my little light colored outfit, still doesn't give it any punch. So, I knew the colors I chose, and how I layered those colors, were really going to matter.

I chose the brown wood paper as the backdrop. I'm not normally drawn to dark backgrounds but, when layered with the light and bright colors, my photo stood out.

Once I figured out how I wanted to design the composition of the page and layer the papers, I went to down with the embellishments. This collection made it super easy because the colors are so reminiscent of early '80s/late '70s photos. And style.

I also had to make it playful since it was a childhood photo. Adding some sparkle and sequin "spills" here and there, plus the balloons, add just that vibe.

Dark paper is nearly impossible to journal on and, I didn't leave any space for additional journaling. So, these word strips were the perfect addition to help balance the page and to throw in some verbiage.

I hope this has helped you dig into your photo stash and find the freedom to scrap them! I loved walking down memory lane and solidifying the memory on a scrapbook page. And, since there's so much dimension, I might just hang it on my wall for a while!

Thanks for swinging by! And, if you are dying to get your hands on this collection, I think it is still available at Paper Issues. Go get yourself some!